StanCorp Financial Group, Inc. reported net income for the fourth quarter of 2012 of $38.4 million, or $0.87 per diluted share, compared to net income for the fourth quarter of 2011 of $38.6 million, or $0.87 per diluted share.

In a release on January 29, the Company noted that after-tax net capital losses were $1.1 million for the fourth quarter of 2012, compared to after-tax net capital gains of $0.7 million for the fourth quarter of 2011.

Net income excluding after-tax net capital gains and losses was $0.89 per diluted share for the fourth quarter of 2012, compared to $0.85 per diluted share for the fourth quarter of 2011. The increase in net income excluding after-tax net capital gains and losses for the fourth quarter of 2012 was primarily due to higher earnings in the Company's Asset Management segment and lower group insurance commissions and bonuses due to lower group insurance sales for 2012. The increase was partially offset by a comparatively higher group insurance benefit ratio as a result of a 75 basis point lower discount rate used for newly established long term disability claim reserves, and lower group insurance premiums.

"I am pleased with our financial performance in the midst of the persisting challenges in the overall economy," said Greg Ness, chairman, president and chief executive officer. "In 2013, we look to further improve profitability by continuing to implement our disciplined pricing actions on both new and renewal long term disability business and to effectively manage our expenses, while continuing to provide superior products and services to our customers."

2012 Results

Net income was $138.5 million, or $3.12 per diluted share for 2012, compared to net income of $136.7 million, or $3.04 per diluted share for 2011. After-tax net capital losses were $5.4 million for 2012, compared to after-tax net capital losses of $4.5 million for 2011.

Net income excluding after-tax net capital losses was $3.24 per diluted share for 2012, compared to $3.14 per diluted share for 2011. The increase for 2012 was primarily due to higher net investment income from bond call premiums and commercial mortgage loan prepayment fee revenues, higher premiums for the Insurance Services segment, a lower effective income tax rate and higher earnings in the Company's Asset Management segment. The increase was partially offset by a comparatively higher group insurance benefit ratio as a result of a 95 basis point lower average discount rate used for newly established long term disability claim reserves.

For 2012, the Company reported return on average equity, excluding after-tax net capital gains and losses from net income and accumulated other comprehensive income ("AOCI") from equity, of 8.0 percent, compared to 8.1 percent for 2011.

2013 Guidance

For 2013, the Company expects net income per diluted share excluding after-tax net capital gains and losses to be in the range of $3.40 to $3.80, and to achieve a return on average equity, excluding after-tax net capital gains and losses from net income and AOCI from equity, in the range of 8 percent to 9 percent. This guidance is affected by the following factors:

-Premiums - In 2013, the Company will continue to implement pricing actions for both new and renewal long term disability business to address the impact of elevated claims incidence and the low interest rate environment. Given these pricing actions and the effect of the continued challenging economic environment on the employment and wage levels of its group insurance customers, the Company expects a low single digit decline in its group insurance premiums for 2013;

-Benefit ratio - The Company expects that the 2013 annual benefit ratio for the group insurance business will be within the range of 81 percent to 84 percent. The Company expects a continued low interest rate environment to place downward pressure on the new money investment interest rate and the discount rate used for newly established long term disability claim reserves. The annual group insurance benefit ratio guidance range assumes that the low interest rate environment will persist in 2013 and as a result the discount rate may be lowered 50 to 75 basis points during 2013; and

-Effective income tax rate - The Company expects that the 2013 effective income tax rate will be in the range of 22 percent to 23 percent. The lower effective income tax rate for 2013 is primarily the result of the Company's previous purchases of tax-advantaged investments.

Business Segments

Insurance Services

The Insurance Services segment reported income before income taxes of $48.0 million for the fourth quarter of 2012, compared to $53.3 million for the fourth quarter of 2011. The decrease in income before income taxes for the fourth quarter of 2012 was primarily due to a comparatively higher group insurance benefit ratio as a result of a 75 basis point lower discount rate used for newly established long term disability claim reserves, and lower group insurance premiums, partially offset by lower group insurance commissions and bonuses due to lower group insurance sales for 2012. In addition, bond call premiums and commercial mortgage loan prepayment fee revenues added $6.1 million of income before income taxes for the fourth quarter of 2012, compared to $1.7 million for the fourth quarter of 2011, offsetting the effects of lower yields on invested assets.

The Insurance Services segment reported income before income taxes of $179.8 million for 2012, compared to $201.2 million for 2011. The decrease in income before income taxes for 2012 was primarily due to a comparatively higher group insurance benefit ratio as a result of a 95 basis point lower average discount rate used for newly established long term disability claim reserves, partially offset by higher premiums for the Insurance Services segment and a lower individual disability benefit ratio. In addition, bond call premiums and commercial mortgage loan prepayment fee revenues added $13.1 million of income before income taxes for 2012, compared to $4.9 million for 2011, offsetting the effects of lower yields on invested assets.

Premiums for the Insurance Services segment decreased 1.6 percent to $532.1 million for the fourth quarter of 2012, compared to $540.9 million for the fourth quarter of 2011. Premiums for the Insurance Services segment increased 0.6 percent to $2.16 billion for 2012, compared to $2.15 billion for 2011.

Group insurance premiums for the fourth quarter of 2012 were $485.9 million, a 2.4 percent decrease compared to the fourth quarter of 2011. The decrease in group insurance premiums was primarily due to lower group insurance sales and persistency for 2012. Group insurance premiums increased 0.4 percent to $1.98 billion for 2012, compared to $1.97 billion for 2011.

Sales for the group insurance businesses, reported as annualized new premiums, were $73.4 million and $74.7 million for the fourth quarters of 2012 and 2011, respectively. Annual sales for the group insurance businesses were $245.0 million for 2012, compared to $336.4 million for 2011. The decrease in group insurance sales was primarily due to pricing competition as the Company implemented pricing actions on its long term disability business to address the impact of the elevated claims incidence and the continued low interest rate environment.

Experience rated refunds ("ERRs") decreased group insurance premiums by $0.7 million for the fourth quarter of 2012 and increased group insurance premiums by $1.7 million for the fourth quarter of 2011. ERRs increased group insurance premiums by $4.0 million for 2012 and decreased group insurance premiums by $12.5 million for 2011. Excluding ERRs, group insurance premiums decreased 1.9 percent for the fourth quarter of 2012 compared to the fourth quarter of 2011 and decreased 0.4 percent for 2012 compared to 2011. ERRs represent a cost sharing arrangement with certain group contract holders that provides refunds when claims experience is more favorable than contractual benchmarks, and provides for additional premiums to be paid when claims experience is less favorable than contractual benchmarks. ERRs can fluctuate from quarter to quarter depending on the underlying experience of the specific contracts.

Individual disability insurance premiums were $46.2 million for the fourth quarter of 2012, compared to $43.3 million for the fourth quarter of 2011 and $176.6 million for 2012, compared to $172.3 million for 2011.

The discount rate used for newly established long term disability claim reserves was 4.00 percent for the fourth quarter of 2012, compared to 4.75 percent for the fourth quarter of 2011. The 75 basis point decrease in the discount rate resulted in a corresponding decrease in quarterly pre-tax income of $5.4 million. The lower discount rate for the fourth quarter of 2012 compared to the fourth quarter of 2011 was primarily the result of the continued low interest rate environment. A 25 basis point increase or decrease in the discount rate currently results in a corresponding increase or decrease in quarterly pre-tax income of $1.8 million.

The benefit ratio for group insurance products, measured as benefits to policyholders and interest credited as a percentage of premiums, was 83.7 percent for the fourth quarter of 2012, compared to 82.8 percent for the fourth quarter of 2011. The increase in the group insurance benefit ratio for the fourth quarter of 2012 was primarily due to the 75 basis point decrease in the discount rate. The annual benefit ratio was 83.9 percent and 83.1 percent for 2012 and 2011, respectively. The Company expects the benefit ratio to remain elevated due to the economy and the effects of the continued low interest rate environment putting pressure on the discount rate used for newly established long term disability claim reserves. Claims experience can fluctuate from quarter to quarter and tends to be more stable when measured over a longer period of time.

The benefit ratio for individual disability insurance was 73.8 percent for the fourth quarter of 2012, compared to 70.9 percent for the fourth quarter of 2011. The annual benefit ratio for individual disability insurance was 65.8 percent for 2012, compared to 67.3 percent for 2011. Due to the relatively small size of the individual disability insurance block of business, the benefit ratio for this business will generally fluctuate more than the benefit ratio for the group insurance business.

Asset Management

The Asset Management segment reported income before income taxes of $16.3 million for the fourth quarter of 2012, compared to $14.0 million for the fourth quarter of 2011. The increase in income before income taxes included $1.0 million in higher administrative fee revenues due to the increase in assets under administration. Income before income taxes also increased $0.6 million for the fourth quarter of 2012 and decreased $0.4 million for the fourth quarter of 2011 as a result of the change in fair values of the hedging assets and liabilities related to the Company's equity- indexed annuity product. In addition, bond call premiums and commercial mortgage loan prepayment fee revenues added $2.5 million of income before income taxes for the fourth quarter of 2012, compared to $2.0 million for the fourth quarter of 2011.

The Asset Management segment reported income before income taxes of $64.0 million for 2012, compared to $61.3 million for 2011.

Assets under administration for the Asset Management segment, which includes retirement plans, individual fixed annuities, private client wealth management and commercial mortgage loans managed for third-party investors, increased 6.2 percent to $21.69 billion at December 31, compared to $20.43 billion at December 31, 2011, primarily reflecting higher equity values for retirement plan assets under administration.

StanCorp Mortgage Investors originated $327.2 million and $237.0 million of commercial mortgage loans for the fourth quarters of 2012 and 2011, respectively. StanCorp Mortgage Investors originated $1.18 billion of commercial mortgage loans for 2012, a 17.5 percent increase compared to $1.01 billion of commercial mortgage originated for 2011. The increase in originations was the result of increased activity in the commercial real estate market.

Other

The Other category includes the return on capital not allocated to the product segments, holding company expenses, operations of certain unallocated subsidiaries, interest on debt, unallocated expenses, net capital gains and losses related to the impairment or the disposition of the Company's invested assets and adjustments made in consolidation. The Other category reported a loss before income taxes of $12.5 million for the fourth quarter of 2012, compared to $15.8 million for the fourth quarter of 2011.

Net capital losses for the fourth quarter of 2012 were $1.9 million, compared to net capital gains of $1.0 million for the fourth quarter of 2011. Pre-tax losses excluding net capital gains and losses for the fourth quarter of 2012 were $10.6 million, compared to $16.8 million for the fourth quarter of 2011. The lower pre-tax losses were primarily due to higher net investment income and lower operating expenses.

Net investment income for the fourth quarter of 2012 was $3.5 million, compared to $1.0 million for the fourth quarter of 2011 primarily due to higher invested assets allocated to the Other category. Operating expenses in the Other category included project costs for information technology service changes of $2.7 million for the fourth quarter of 2011 that did not recur in 2012.

The Other category reported a loss before income taxes of $60.4 million for 2012, compared to $71.0 million for 2011. Net capital losses for 2012 were $8.7 million, compared to $6.9 million for 2011. Pre-tax losses excluding net capital losses for 2012 were $51.7 million, compared to $64.1 million for 2011. The lower pre- tax losses were primarily due to lower operating expenses.

Operating expenses in the Other category included project costs for information technology service changes of $11.0 million for 2011 that did not recur in 2012.

Fixed Maturity Securities and Commercial Mortgage Loans

At December 31, the Company's investment portfolio consisted of 56.5 percent fixed maturity securities, 41.4 percent commercial mortgage loans, and 2.1 percent real estate and other invested assets. The overall weighted-average credit rating of the fixed maturity securities portfolio was A- (Standard & Poor's) at December 31.

At December 31, commercial mortgage loans in the Company's investment portfolio totaled $5.27 billion on more than 6,320 commercial mortgage loans. The average loan balance retained by the Company in the portfolio was approximately $0.8 million. Commercial mortgage loans more than 60 days delinquent were 0.40 percent and 0.34 percent of the portfolio balance at December 31, and 2011, respectively.

Capital and Book Value

The Company's available capital increased $30 million to approximately $360 million at December 31, compared to September 30. The increase in available capital was primarily due to income from its insurance subsidiaries for the fourth quarter of 2012. Available capital includes capital at its insurance subsidiaries in excess of the Company's target risk-based capital ratio ("RBC") of 300 percent and cash and capital at the holding company and non-insurance subsidiaries. The Company reported available capital after subtracting an allocation for expected annual interest and shareholder dividends. The RBC ratio was estimated to be 365 percent at December 31.

The Company's book value per share grew 8.6 percent from $44.96 at December 31, 2011, to $48.83 at December 31. The Company's book value per share excluding AOCI grew 5.6 percent from $39.65 at December 31, 2011, to $41.87 at December 31. During the fourth quarter of 2012, the Company paid an annual dividend of $0.93 per share.

Shares Outstanding

The Company did not repurchase any shares during the fourth quarter of 2012. For 2012, the Company repurchased 279,700 shares at a total cost of $10.0 million, which resulted in a volume weighted- average price of $35.68. On November 13, the Board of Directors of StanCorp Financial Group, Inc. approved a new share repurchase authorization of up to 3.0 million shares of the Company's common stock. The new share authorization replaced the existing share repurchase authorization and will expire on December 31, 2014. At December 31, the Company had 3.0 million shares remaining under its repurchase authorization. The Company will evaluate share repurchases opportunistically based on the consistency of capital generation and its view of equity market valuation. Diluted weighted- average shares outstanding for the fourth quarters of 2012 and 2011 were 44,387,650 and 44,278,707, respectively.

StanCorp Financial Group, Inc., through its subsidiaries marketed as The Standard -- Standard Insurance Company, The Standard Life Insurance Company of New York, Standard Retirement Services, StanCorp Mortgage Investors, StanCorp Investment Advisers, StanCorp Real Estate and StanCorp Equities -- is a provider of financial products and services.

More information:

http://www.stancorpfinancial.com

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